ONE (1986–)

This was an impulse buy – I happened to see it while grocery shopping, and I vaguely remembered hearing good things about it. It turned out to be pretty funny.

As far as the premise goes, I'll just quote the bit on the table of contents page: “My name is Saitama. I am a hero. I got too strong. And that makes me sad. I can defeat any enemy with one blow. I lost my hair. And I lost all feeling. I want to feel the rush of battle. I would like to meet an incredibly strong enemy. And I would show more like to defeat it with one blow. That's because I am One-Punch Man.”

Although that's somewhat incorrect, because what Saitama would really like is an enemy that takes a bit more to defeat than one punch. Someone who could get his adrenaline flowing, even just a little bit.

In this volume, we learn One-Punch Man's origins. He was jobless, had just failed his most recent job interview, and happened to come across a guy who turned into a crab monster after eating too many crabs. Saitama didn't really have anything better to do, and becoming a powerful hero seemed like a nice hobby.

This series is ridiculous, and the writer and artist fully embrace that. Everything is a joke, from the hero, to the villains, to the people being attacked by the villains (my favorite was the crying little girl wearing a shirt that said “School Child”). The writer even pokes fun at some of the usual action manga conventions, like the tendency of characters to shout out their attack names – one of Saitama's attacks was “consecutive normal punches.”

Although Saitama is strong enough to defeat villains many times larger than himself with only a single punch, he still has to worry about ordinary things, like the cost of getting his roof fixed and being able to afford groceries. He fights for the adrenaline rush and because property damage is annoying, not because he's actually worried about the people around him. I laughed when he announced he was saving one particular kid because “With the birthrate so low, I can't let you kill [him].”

Halfway through the volume, another hero enters the scene, a cyborg who'd probably be the main character if he were in a different series. Unlike Saitama, he does have a typical hero motive and origin story, and I'll be interested to see how the series handles him and Saitama together.

I'll wrap this up with a couple notes. One, in case the premise didn't make it clear, this is fairly violent. There's blood, and Saitama rips out eyeballs a few times. And two, the series is light on female characters, and the one who does pop up is...typical. Mosquito Girl's design is basically Barbie doll nudity with some black-and-white markings, and one panel was weirdly sexual (she got her power from blood that real mosquitoes brought her, so at one point she called for all the power she could get: “Come to me! Pour into me the juice you have stored up!”).

All in all, I enjoyed this and am looking forward to reading more. It's a simple premise, but there seems to be plenty of comedy potential.

(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

In the first half of this volume, Saitama and Genos learn more about the House of Evolution, the group behind the genetically modified beings they battled in the previous volume. The House of Evolution was founded by an evil genius who believes that humanity's continued evolution should be artificially assisted. Genos and Saitama battle the evil doctor's most powerful and least emotionally stable being, Carnage Kabuto.

In the second half of the volume, a terrorist group that believes that show more nobody should have to work decides to go after the richest man in town. The man's bodyguard, a ninja named Speed-O'-Sound Sonic, battles them – and also Saitama, who he mistakes for a terrorist because Saitama and the terrorists are all bald.

Since I liked the first volume of this series, I decided to pick up volumes 2-4 when I spotted them at my local Walmart. Unfortunately, this volume wasn't quite as good as the first one. Either there were fewer jokes, or what jokes the volume had weren't as funny. I did enjoy the moment, near the end of Saitama and Carnage Kabuto's battle, when it looked like Saitama had finally managed to feel horrified about the damage that a monster like Carnage Kabuto could do. As usual, what he was actually freaking about was something much less heroic. I also enjoyed everyone's complete refusal to believe the secret behind Saitama's amazing strength and invincibility. Even hero-worshiping Genos thought Saitama was lying.

The second half of the volume barely had Saitama in it, much less Genos. I imagine it was more about establishing a one-sided rivalry between Sonic and Saitama. It's possible that Sonic could become another one of Saitama's eager followers, like Genos, but his positively evil grin screams “villain” more than “future hero wannabe.” But we'll see.

It looks like the next volume will be at least partially about Saitama and Genos getting themselves into the Hero Registry. Amusingly, although it's likely that Saitama saving that annoying little boy three years ago probably inspired the creation of the Hero Registry, no one ever thought to ask him to register or even seemed to remember that he existed.

Here's my favorite bit about the Hero Registry: “What the world refers to as heroes are those professional heroes listed in the registry. Any unlisted individual claiming to be a hero, no matter how active, is viewed askance and considered nothing more than a pervy freak who spouts irresponsible nonsense.” (182) I have a feeling that getting into the registry will be more difficult than Saitama expects.

This wasn't quite as much fun as the first volume, but I still have high hopes for the next couple and don't regret having bought them already.

Extras:

A 14-page prequel comic featuring Saitama back when he was still in training and had all his hair. Also, one page of translator's notes, one of which is important for understanding one of the volume's jokes.

(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

So delightfully g**-dam**d funny.

Yes, it really skewers other mangas and manga themes, but damn it's funny all on its own. Our hero is by far the most humble hero I've ever seen. Like, tragically humble. Easily the most powerful hero EVER and yet he's so humble he's obscure, constantly underrated, and full of ennui because of it. Poor guy. He's kinda dim, too. :)

After accidentally hitting this poor guy in the nuts:

From the author of One Punch Man, comes Mob Psycho 100, an absurd comedy about a forgettable teen with incredible powers and his huckster spiritualist boss. It circumvents the tropes of other high school manga with wacky characters, recurring gags, and sharp twists into dark places. Recommended.